The 2020 earnings season is going on: some corporations have provided updates regarding their distribution policies in their earnings reports and conference calls.

a.  Examine a specific firm's distribution practice in the past several years to discuss what considerations may make the firm to follow the specific pattern of distribution.

b.  For firms actively engaged in share buybacks, compared to cash dividends, analyze how the repurchases have (not) changed their sales per share and EPS and their valuations i.e. stock prices and P/E ratios etc.